 A Salcombe Yawl, reefed, crewed by teenagers on the Kingsbridge Estuary in 1967 | |
| Development | |
|---|---|
| Location | Salcombe,Devon |
| Year | 1938 |
| Name | Salcombe Yawl |
| Boat | |
| Crew | 2-3 |
| Hull | |
| Type | Monohull |
| Hull weight | 381 kg (840 lb) |
| LOA | 4.88 m (16 ft 0 in) |
| Beam | 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) |
| Rig | |
| Rig type | Ketch |
| Sails | |
| Total sail area | 16.24 m2 (174.8 sq ft)[1] |
The termSalcombe Yawl refers to a small sailing dinghy restricted class native toSalcombe in SouthDevon, and also to the traditional sailing vessel from the area upon which that class was based, with a 200-year history.[2] The current class of vessel has about the size of aMerlin Rocket, that is 4.88 metres (16.0 ft) and about 180 have been built of which 80% are still in use. It is built traditionally by hand from mahogany, and isclinker built. The centre plate is cast iron, but more recent Yawls have bronze plates. While it is rigged as aketch with themizzen ahead of the rudder post, the label yawl is probably derived from a corruption of the word yole, meaning a small inshore fishing boat. Designers, work within the class restrictions, adding innovations to each vessel.[3] It is raced in two classes depending on the age of the boat. A newly built boat in 2009 would cost £40,000 while a second hand vessel would be half of that.[4] There is a glassfibre derivative with aluminium spars called a Devon Yawl. The mould for this was taken from a 1968 Salcombe Yawl and because of the nature of its construction is a one-design. There are approximately 300 Devon Yawls and they are built both in the UK and USA.